Not sure how many or who read this, but I don't really care to be honest. It's more about putting my views out somewhere. In meatspace, I've only got one person I can talk to - feel comfortable talking to - about this sort of thing, and I don't get to do that nearly as much as I like. But enough about that

Yesterday I stated my reasons for not believing religious claims. I neglected to add that I also apply this reasoning to all supernatural or pseudo-scientific claims also - ghosts, ufology, homeopathy, and so on. But today I want to touch on how my skeptical views impact societal issues - more specifically, one particular issue. Same sex marriage. I use the word marriage here not in a religious sense, but in the sense of any civil union that has all the legal privileges that marriage possesses.

Basically, I can see no convincing reason it shouldn't be allowed. People's objections seem to be based on that old argument, "Think of the children!" For one thing, I have not yet seen any evidence that children raised by same sex couples have it any worse than children raised by heterosexual couples. For another, the argument that the children would be bullied for it is itself an example of the the prejudice that people have that causes the bullying in the first place.

Finally, the idea that if something is against your religion it should not be legal is asinine. Jewish people don't argue that pork or shrimp should be outlawed. Even Scientologists, batshit crazy as they are, aren't stupid enough to argue that psychologists should be illegal. And if either of those groups did argue those things, we would dismiss the idea that just because one religion has a belief that it should be imposed on non-believers also. So why do people think religious objections are valid in this case.

I'm not saying that their arguments hold no weight at all. They are perfectly welcome to forbid members of their own faith from participating in same sex marriages. But to impose this on others is not only wrong, but dangerous. Where would you draw the line? Once there is precedent that religious beliefs can hold legal weight, there is a huge risk of starting on a slippery slope, to a society where people can enforce their views on the unwilling in the name of "saving" them.

Same sex marriage. Why the fuck not?